Quick Links
In the originalCities: Skylines, players would eventually unlock every civic service and building by reaching population milestones. Colossal Ordercompletely revamped this systemforCities: Skylines 2: instead of unlocking everything for free, milestones now provide development points that players can spend to unlock whichever advanced buildings they like.
However, some of these advanced buildings and services are more important than others, and development points are scarce at the start of a game. This means a player can accidentally make theirCities: Skylines 2experience much harder than it has to be by choosing buildings they don’t need over ones that are vitally important. That’s why this guide will list every development tree and which items on it are most important.
RELATED:Cities Skylines 2 Could Benefit From One Anno 1800 Feature
The Development Point Economy
Each milestone comes with at least one development point, which is the orange hex symbol on the milestone list.They also come with land permits, which are the green hex. Later milestones come with more of each:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
17
19
21
25
30
Total
232
The number of development points players need to buy every upgrade is 228.
Roads
Roads, electricity, and water and sewage all start unlocked as the game begins, but players will need to reach the first milestone to get any points to spend on them.
Cities: Skylines 2is a traffic simulation game more than it is anything else, so players should invest points in this tree early and often. Advanced Road Services and Large Roads are particularly important, becausethey give players more tools to adjust roads and intersectionsto meet the needs of a growing city. Advanced Road Services also unlocks the absolutely essential road maintenance building. Roundabouts are also useful, but the smallest one unlocks for free at the first milestone.
Parking Areas can come in handyas players unlock medium and high-density zones, but Intersections and the Grand Bridge can afford to wait. Intersections are just pre-designed road and highway intersections that use the same road tools players already have access to, and the Grand Bridge turns a regular bridge into a tourist attraction.
RELATED:Cities: Skylines 2 - How to Meet Low Rent Housing Demands
Electricity
Electricity is the lifeblood of a modern city, and players start the game with access toa small coal plant and wind turbines. These generate enough power to get a city off the ground, but eventually players will need to build something better.
The best choice for this something better is a gas power plant. A natural gas power plantpollutes a bit less than a coal plant, but more importantly it’s a reliable source of power that can support a city into the midgame on its own. Just be sure to hook it up to the external power lines to export any unneeded power.
Depending on the map, the renewable energy plants can also be reliable, and they don’t need any resource shipments that can clog up the roads. However, they cost a bit more in development points since players must buy the Emergency Battery Station first, andplayers must understand the mapto know where to put them. For its part, the gas power plant can go anywhere that’s downwind of the main city.
Water and Sewage
There’s not much that needs upgradingin the water and sewage system. The water treatment plant reduces the pollution effects of the city’s sewage system, but this pollution won’t be a big problem until much later in the game, at least if players have placed their sewage outlets in a good location. The Advanced Water Pumping Station is simply a more efficient way to tap water reservoirs, and that’s not something players desperately need if the map has access to open water.
RELATED:Cities: Skylines 2 Not Enough Customers Fix
Healthcare and Deathcare
Healthcare, deathcare, and garbage management all unlock once players reach the first milestone. For health and death, players get free access to clinics and cemeteries. This development tree is worth investing in: unlike cemeteries, crematoriums have no maximum capacity, and the hospital actively improves a city’s health situation while clinics can only maintain it at around 60 percent.
Garbage Management
The basic garbage management facility is the landfill,which is better at storing garbage than it is at processing it. To fully get rid of garbage, players must buy the Incinerator Plant. The Recycling Center can also help reduce waste while generating a small cashflow that helps pay for garbage management, but it can’t process or store nearly as much trash as the landfill and incinerator.
Education and Research
Like the first game, education is essential inCities: Skylines 2, although for slightly different reasons. Building upgrades rely on household or business wealth levels, which is only partly based on education, but demand for medium and high-density housing requires a large student population.
Players get access to elementary and high schools for free at milestone two, but everything else costs development points. The two most essential buildings to get are the college and the university, which allow citizens to reach the highest levels of education (and therefore the best building upgrades and more high-density demand).
The naming convention can be confusing to American players, so what the game means by “college” is a two-year community college while a university hands out bachelor’s degrees and above. For some reason,Cities: Skylines 2requires citizens to visit first one then the other if they want to complete their education.
The two specialist universities serve the same basic purpose as the regular university, but they cost more and provide special city-wide bonuses to either industrial and office zones (Technical University) or healthcare (Medical University). The advanced buildings in this tree also improve city stats, but they don’t provide any direct services.
RELATED:Cities Skylines 2 High Rent Fix
Fire and Rescue
The only building that unlocks for free in the Fire and Rescue tree is the basic fire house. A fire house helps put out fires when they happen, but the best way to reduce the chances of a fire starting are by investing in a Fire Station.
The Small Emergency Shelter is another useful upgrade to get early on, especially since natural disasters unlock with milestone four. An emergency shelter will save the lives of citizens in its range, and this reduces the impact a natural disaster can have on the city.
The usefulness of the Firewatch Tower and Firefighting Helicopter Depotdepends on the map. A map with massive forests and sprawling towns that overlap with them will need a lot more forest fire protection than a map full of open grasslands.
Police and Administration
This service starts with basic police stations and nothing else. The Welfare Office is a good early investment, because placing one or two can make crime almost nonexistent even without good police coverage. Still, much like with healthcare, citizens will complain about crime until players buy and place a Police Headquarters building.
The other administration buildings are only really useful if players are running a big deficit through service imports and loan payments. Likewise, the Prison and Central Intelligence Bureau are less useful for players who already have good police coverage.
RELATED:Cities Skylines 2 is Oddly Missing One Unique Transportation Method
Transportation
Transportation is worth investing in for the same reasons as the Roads tree. Players get buses for free,but must unlock every other transportation service. The subway is especially useful for getting citizens across the city without spending time on the roads, and a good train or water connection can bring goods to commercial and industrial zones so that trucks don’t have to.
Parks and Recreation
Citizens don’t really need parks, but they boost land values and can draw in tourists. The Park Maintenance building is absolutely essential for keeping all the city’s parks in good shape, and from there players can go with either Large Parks or Sports Parks as they prefer. Both serve a larger area and boost wellbeing better than the small parks that unlock for free.
Communications
This tree is one that players can afford to neglect for a while. The basic services that unlock include a post office, public post boxes, and a communications tower. Players can satisfy their citizens for a long time by placing post boxes and towers in strategic locations.
So to sum it all up, the buildings and upgrades players should always prioritize are:
Players can eventually buy every upgrade, but getting these first will make playing the game much easier.
Cities: Skylines 2is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
